Apparatus for breaking eggs and salvaging liquid egg material



Jan. 1, 1952 Filed Jan. 23, 1947 J M. VANSANT 2,581,054

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING EGGS AND SALVAGING LIQUID EGG MATERIAL 2 SHEETS-SHEET l I /6 & E

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da/m 44. d/75d/7/ Jan. 1, 1952 J. M. VANSANT 2,581,054

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING EGGS AND SALVAGING LIQUID EGG MATERIAL Filed Jan. 23, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 /7' m. 3 /6a v 39 as 46 I v 24 54 65 John Y Vfl/ifid/W m! 5 V Patented Jan. 1, 1952 UNITED rarest FI E APP RATUS B SAIJ GlNG IE9 REAKING} noes AND U11) EG MMEBJAL John V n a t, e a, Kansen se ien Ja ar? 2 1947, Seria NQ- 723 81 18 Claims.

me hod nd na for br a in g s s i e tracting liquid egg material therefrom and is The present invention relates in general to the more particularly" concerned with improvements suction nozzle or mandrel i'or-thepurpose of drawing the remnant liquid clinging tothe shell.

into a salvage receptacle. This procedure is very effective and in a large scale operation the liquid egg material thus salvaged reaches astonishing proportions. However, it imposes additional duties on the individual workers and this naturally reduces the number of eggs which can be handled by each person in the course of a working day; the lossof time occurs mainly in connection with the removal of the shell halves from the suction mandrels after the salvage operation, a step which in the past has required the suction to be cut off manually in order to release the shell halves from the mandrels.

It is an important object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a method and apparatus by which the'handling of eggs may be speeded up. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an arrangement which facilitates the removal of shell halves from the suction mandrel after the remnant liquid material clinging to the inside thereof has been salvaged.

With a view to achieving these objects apparatu-s has been provided which automatically ejects the shell of one egg from the suction mandrel responsive to the worker breaking the next egg.

According to a feature of the invention the shell halves are blown oil the mandrels by compressed air. Another feature resides in theprovision of apparatus for altering the position of the mandrel during the ejection of the shell halve therefrom whereby such ejection does not interfere with the operators preparations to place other shell halves on the mandrels.

It e e tial n a e p ocessi g plant t l ar s om n i to cont ct with the liquid .e e material be kept very clean and another object f i' m i le salvage apparatus 1 1 ind cated e which is adapted to emb se rids-iv and asily for cleaning. A i fil -te PM??? to nml'ide an mnr ved con.-

pllng between the salvage receiving receptacle and'the balance of the apparatus whereby the receptacle may be meeyandeasn removed and'replaced when full.

' Other objects and features will appear in the course of'the following description of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, an'din which like refer ence numerals refer to like parts of'the'vario'us views,

"Fig. -1 is a front elevation of the apparatus which I employ for breaking'eggs and's'alvaging the liquid material from the shells,

Fig. 2 "is a side elevation of the apparatus,

Fig. 31s av-ie'w of the apparatus takenalong the line 3+3 of Fig.2 in'the direction 'of the arrows,

Fig. ,4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line '4-4 of Eigfl in the direction of the arrows, and 4 Figs. 5"and 6 are perspective views of cooperating parts of the valve and suction nozzle or mandrell Referring more particularly to the drawings, my salvaging apparatus has a suction chamber comprising a cylindrical barrel ID, a cap' I I secure'd to the upper end of the barrel and a generally funneleshaped bottom piece l2 secured to its lower end. The weight of the'suction chamber is carried by a bracket l3 and this in turn is suspended by the fittings M, 15 and Hi from a T H which is attached to the lower end of a vertical supporting pipe Ill.

The upper end of pipe i8 is connected to a suction line (not shown) which'has associated therewith a suitable vacuum pump; thus through pipe 18, T l7, extension pipe 2i! and aflexible hose 12!, the suction line communicates with the suction chamber of my apparatus. In order to control the suction imposed .on the chamber, a butterfly valve 22 having an operating handle -23 is provided in cap H. The valve may be completely openedby turning the handleto an upright position and it is substantially closed when the handle is horizontal, the butterfly being notched as shown in Fig. 3, however, to prevent it from completely blocking the throat of'th'e valve when the handle is horiz ontal.

At the lower extremity of the suction chamber the bottom piece l2 is provided with a flanged screw' collar 25 having a segment of'its rimfcut away .to permit the bead 2B on the upper end of a receptacle 2,6 to be inserted readily into the col lar from the side. After such insertion the collar may be rotated a fraction of a turn to draw the mouth of the receptacle up into engagement with an annular gasket at the bottom of the funnellike member l2 and thereby seal the receptacle to the suction chamber. This arrangement makes it possible to attach and detach the receptacle very quickly and permits a glass milk bottle of conventional shape to be used as the receptacle, if desired.

The bottom piece I2 also supports two oppositely disposed identical units each having a pair of shell-receiving mandrels 21. Ovoid in shape, these mandrels are smaller in diameter than the smallest egg which is expected to be placed over the end thereof, and they have outwardly raised ribs 28 designed to maintain a space between superposed egg shell (29) and the exterior of the mandrel. Each mandrel is brazed or otherwise aifixed to a rigid supporting tube 3!, the upper end of which is firmly positioned in a transverse hole in the cylindrical valve shaft or plug 32. The opposite end of the supporting tube extends downwardly through the center of the mandrel and communicates with the lower end thereof to form an intake nozzle for the remnant liquid egg material in the egg shell. A curved bar 33 bridges the nozzle diagonally to maintain the lower end of the shell spaced from the inlet and also to prevent shell fragments from entering the tube.

The aforementioned cylindrical valve plug 32 is rotatably supported in the valve housing 34 which has a pair of ducts 35adapted to register with respective ones of the tubes 3! when the valve shaft is positioned as shown in Fig. 4. A second pair of smaller ducts 36 are arranged to register with the tubes when the valve shaft is turned clockwise through an angle of approximately 85, as will be described presently. The latter ducts communicate with a nipple 38 which is connected by a hose 39 to an air line 40, a conventional pump or other source of air pressure (not shown) being associated with the air line to build up the pressure therein.

Although the valve plug 32 is adapted to turn about its own axis it normally is restrained against axial movement by means of a shoulder 41 which bears against one end of the valve housing and a pin 42 which bears against the other end. The valve may easily be disassembled, however, by turning the operating arm or lever 43 up until pin 42 is positioned opposite the transverse forward opening in the valve housing, and then moving the shaft laterally to the right to draw it out of the housing. This arrangement makes it very convenient and easy to clean the valve and associated parts.

In order to mount the valve on the suction chamber the valve housing is provided with a rearwardly extending shank 45 which slides into a supporting ferrule 46 on the bottom piece of the chamber. The suction acting on the shank draws the valve assembly home, while a spline 41 cooperating with a keyway 48 in the shank prevents the assembly from turning in the ferrule. Simply by closing the butterfly valve 22 the suction may be reduced sufiiciently to permit the valve housing to be withdrawn from its support and this further facilitates cleaning of the valve.

Referring now to the valve operating arm lever 43, it will be seen that this is linked to the lower extremity of a, vertical rod 50, the upper end of the rod being secured to a piston 51 which is adapted to move in the cylinder 52. A coiled compression spring 53 acting on the top of the piston normally maintains it and the associated rod '50 depressed, whereby the valve shaft and suction mandrels 21 supported thereon normally occupy the position shown.

Communicating with the chamber 54 beneath the piston is a tube 55 which supports an air valve, the construction of which is best seen in Fig. 4; it comprises a cylinder 56 having axially slidable therein a valve member 51 urged upwardly by a coiled compression spring 58. The valve thus normally blocks the air inlet 60 which is connected by a suitable hose 6| to the air line 40. Depending from the valve stem 62 is a rod 63 having at its lower extremity a horizontal platform or table 64. This table contains a narrow slot through which a stationary knife extends, the sharpened edge of the knife being positioned slightly above the level of the table. The knife is supported by means not shown so that its height is adjustable over a limited range to suit the convenience of the worker; a corresponding adjustment in the level of the table 64 may be made by inserting the stirrup at the upper end of rod 63 in different ones of a series of holes 6-6 in the flattened portion of the valve stem.

Although only one piston and air-control valve therefor have been described, it will be understood that there are two identical ones of such units. These are supported by member l5 on opposite sides of the suction chamber, and each cooperates with one pair of shell-receiving suction mandrels 2'1.

Having described the construction of my ap paratus I now will explain the manner in which it is used. Two operators sit facing one another with the unit between them so that one pair of suction mandrels is before each operator. Within convenient reach of each operator is a carton or basket of eggs, and from this the operator takes the eggs one at a time, breaking each eggin half over the stationary knife 65 and pouring 7 its contents into receptacles (not shown) which are situated below the knife. This removes all of the fluid egg material except that which clings to the interior of the shell and it is an opera tion which may be performed and repeated with great rapidity by a practiced operator.

In order to salvage the liquid egg material clinging to the interior of each shell, the opera tor, after dumping the major part of the contents as described, quickly places the two halves of the shell over the mandrels 21 and leaves them there while she reaches for another egg. The suction maintains the shell halves in place and also creates a strong current of air moving along the inner surface of the shell in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 4 to carry the remnant egg material downwardly within the shell and up tube 3| into the suction chamber, from which it drains into the receptacle 26.

After the shell halves have been cleaned it is necessary to remove them from the mandrels to make way for another egg. Unfortunately the suction makes such removal virtually impossible, and accordingly in the past it has been the practice to provide a manually operable valve bymeans of which the operator could cut off thesuction briefly while she brushed or knocked the shells from the mandrel with the side of her hand...

This awkward and time-consuming step inter feres with the handling of the next egg and it is obviated by my arrangement.

QJAJQQQ my emeritus. the shell heivee re eih the mese els while the o era or r h f r soothes sets out the ere elected. to hen let er egg is hrol eit. d e is. irisodrels ere reset toreeeive the she or? the e ter e when t e eontests thereot have seen duihoeii Mor spe fieal r when as e g is moved sharpl slow. on the khii 5.5 to break the two halves st ike the ab e it one depress some momenta ily- This, h ou h i9. 5., hows relive 5 do h. ese h t th force of spring is w ereby the up er p rti n (51'' i the alve ho ers exh ust port f t while thelow r no t eh eoi simultaneously uncove s the i let in, he i-nttihe eir the p essure t ese se she-inter 54 throu h time 5, The er eh piston 5! io ee it howeril aga nst and y theses of r d 1 ehtlleve 3, is turns the ots y vo e lus it le hw se this. it A the sl l' l lilh the hotieh o i ces re s sconnected from pipes 3| and then, as the n; ore \Zl ressh e o sitioh show oottes, e s Press e o ifices iii are e nheo ed sires so hat he shell hal es terse the e rom th eii'eetieh of he e u o they l into is sui able a e r septesle (n t ow It will he unde s o d th t the downward movement of t e pl t rm-6 sees ori si by the breeds the of an see o er kni e s5 is ry tri and that spring restores he elve theo eswh the pre sure is r moved hos the p a fo m,

Upon return n to norma the valve blocks ill "air in et il-e d at the. some t me une vers seerhree 55 whereby pring 5.3 can terse pist n hi downwar y (sen ing the air bene th so e to exhaust into the op n atmo here hrou h Pil s snd orifice EB) and thus the r tary Pi ls 3.2 and th os oo ete l uc n nend els 2'! a e re store to th po i ion shown in liti l nes.-

eeeorclinsl the me olrel re ready to esol e or the Purpo e o another pair' of shell halves I s lveins the liquig g materiel therefrom he ime required or t e apparatu to t rhetioel y eie t. one a o shell ha ves and etu n to a tate f readin t reeeive s other ha r s a out h s m as the operator nee s or dumpin t e con ents of the e g a e b eaking some and therefore it will be seen that there is neither any lost time nor any lost motion on 51;; th pa t of h ope a r.

Whenev r recep c e 26 become ul of th qui gg ma r e ag d rom th shel s, the hostile 22 of he bu erfl val e u ned o o heri oht l p s tion to r thie he sect on mp sed she-n th emotion s e-m t r h t ees ,25 hen is. h heti e .i so io l o e revoluti n vhe asins re.- eeh eele 2.5 so that it may be removed laterally hrou h the ide opening of th esp. Th re erv tools is emptied and replaced (or a new one substituted for it) whereupon cap '25 again may he quickly tightened and butterfly valve 22 reopened to restore the apparatus to service. The manner in which the rotary valve and shellreceiving mandrel unit may be quickly disassembled for cleaning has already been described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of t ends d i ts ere i eiore set iorth tosethor i h othe ed eh eses whic ere o vious i h h are inherent to he fi llfilatlli it il be ihiclerstoorl that cer ein ie' tii es sod sh oomhihetiohs. a eoi til ty a d oe-y he em ployeti without reierenee to other restores ehis eehtemiileted by end elsi 1 e hbod i eh soithe out departing from the s i i t all h or shows n th scootes is to b e intorpretod as illustrai-e limit ie sen e- Hevi e th s desert so my invention, I oleimr ifiel eslhe simrst s. or ex ree s the mi eg m ter al rom gg h h o s e o ors v l e suppo t d in e s e shell-rece vin a e iior f t t it ti herv 'hohsin v mounted on the valve and fixedly secured thereto e t sa d h usi a du looting with the 4 interior oi a shell hell wh n some s os ned on the menth l, e st m li is the h s n a a ted to not only when the valve occun d ehsiiior p sit n h r nd suc ion means s nhe so to the eohclh tior produ ng e ubetmostill is pressure in the dllot when the valve occu- Pie seitl p de ermined Po iti n- 2 olve he ophsr tus s cl med in laim i said valve has t P ll ormally e ent ng ,io ement of the va e in he h usin n the a passa e in the hous ng thr gh which the pin s adopted t mo e lle to heaxis of th ,es on the valve and th rewith relati e to a d ho s ng, a dh lve communica ing i h h ior o ashell half when same is positioned on the mandrel .a condu n the ho sing adap ed o register with the sh t only whe th al c p a predetermined angular position with respect to th housin suet oh m ans con e t h o .dhit iortpr tiileing e su atm spheric pre u e in the duct when the val e oc u ies sa d pr d t m in eclposi-tion, a second conduit in the housing adopted to eg s e wi h the duct only whe the valve ooespies a dif ere t angula position with respect to the housing, and a source of fluid pres sure e hiieoted o said second conduit to p duce a supcratmosphorig pressure in the duct when he val o i ies eirie i fe ent p ti vIn sa vs-sp er th wh e n shell halves are pissed v, on mandrel to r mo e remtherefro.

is s stationary bles on whi h its e a opted to he bro en e o ehle member ee leoeht the hlede o it s e aged mo et hy an eg wh n some s v the blade, eiit appara us operated resp nsi e t a d m ehieh of the mem er o o eee ly lee r -t e mandrel she l hell revi u l p ac d the Ahoereths its solid rok n h h Iii se esl s spheretus wherein shell a ve v ar placed on o shetioh mandrel to remove remliqlli eg material therefrom, the improvement wl;

ated responsive to the movement of said member for directing fluid from said source against-the interior of a, shell half previously placed on the mandrel to eject same from the mandrel.

'7. A salvaging apparatus comprising a suction mandrel for removingliquid egg material from shell halves, in combination with means for forcibly ejecting a shell half from said mandrel, an anvil upon which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, means actuated by, the breaking of an egg on said anvil, and apparatus controlled by said last means for actuating said ejecting means when an egg is broken on said anvil.

8. In salvaging apparatus for extracting liquid egg material from shell halves, an anvilon which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, a device actuatedby the breaking of an egg on said anvil,-a valve comprising a stationary housing having acircular plug journaled therein for limited rotation in either direction, said plug having a predetermined normal position, trip mechanism having operative connection to said device and also to saidplug, said mechanism actuated under control of said device responsive to the breaking of an egg on said anvil to momentarily rotate said plug off normal and then automatically return it to said normal position, said valve housing containing a duct whose end confronts said plug and is covered and closed by the plug when same is off normal, suction means connected to said duct for maintaining subatmospheric pressure in the duct, said plug containing a substantially radial bore positioned to register with said duct when the plug is in said normal position, a shell receiving mandrel carried by said plug and fixedly secured thereto to turn with the plug, and an enclosed passageway extending from said bore through said mandrel and communicating at its other end with the interior of a shell half when same is positioned on the mandrel.

9. Salvaging apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said housing contains a second duct whose end is positioned to register with said bore when said plug is in its off normal position, said last duct being covered and closed by said plug when same is in its normal position, and a source of air pressure connected to said last duct.

10. In salvaging apparatus for extracting liquid egg material from egg shell halves, a valve comprising a stationary housing having a circular plug iournaled therein for rotation in either direction, lever means for turning said plug alter-- nately in opposite directions between two predetermined end positions, a shell receiving mandrel fixedly secured to said plug to turn therewith, an air duct communicating at one end with the interior of a shell half when same is positioned on the mandrel, said duct extending from said one end through said mandrel into said plug and having its opposite end opening substantially radially outward through the peripheral side wall of the plug, said valve housing containing a pair of ports positioned so the respective ones thereof register with said duct in the opposite end positions of said plug, each of the ports being covered and closed by the side wall of the plug when said duct is out of register with that port, a source of air pressure connected to one of the ports, and suction means connected to the other port.

11. In salvaging apparatus for extracting liquid egg material from egg shell halves, a valve comprising a stationary housing having a 'circular plug iournaled therein for rotation about a;

horizontal axis, lever means for turning said plug alternately in opposite directions between two end positions, said plug having a cross bore with a rigid tube secured therein and projecting radially from one side of the plug through an opening in the housing, saidhousing having a'- pair of ports so positioned that the respective ones thereof register with said cross bore in the oppo site end positions of the plug, each of said ports being covered and closed by the side wall of a plug when said cross bore is out of register with that port, a source of air pressure connected to one of said ports, suction means connected to the other port, and a shell receiving mandrel carried on the free end of the tube, said mandrel constructed and arranged so the bore of the tube communicates with the interior of a shell half when same is positioned on the mandreL- j 12. Apparatus as in claim ll wherein the axis of said tube at its free end is transverse to the axis of said cross bore.

13. Salvaging apparatus for extracting the remnant liquid egg material from egg shell halves, comprising a mandrel conforming in shape with the interior of a shell half, spacers on the mandrel for maintaining a 'space between the same and a shell half superposed over the man drel, a duct extending through the mandrel and communicating at one end with the space be tween the mandrel and the shell half, suction means associated with the other end of the duct for drawing air through said space and into the duct, a source of air pressure, valve means operable to shut off said suction means and substan' tially simultaneously connect said source to said other end of the duct to eject the shell half from the mandrel, an anvil on which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, means actuated by the breaking of an egg on said anvil, and apparatus controlled by said last means for actuating said valve means whenever an egg is broken on said anvil.

l4. Salvaging apparatus as claimed in claim 3, having mechanism for rotating said valve from said predetermined position to said diiierent position, an anvil upon which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, and means actuated by the breaking of an egg on said anvil for actuating said mechanism responsive thereto.

15. Salvaging apparatus for extracting the remnant liquid egg material from egg shell halves, comprising a mandrel conforming in shape with the interior of a shell half, spacers on the mandrel for maintaining a space between same and a shell half superposed over the mandrel, a duct extending through the mandrel and communi eating at one end with the space between the mandrel and the shell half, suction means associated with the other end of the duct for drawing air through said space and into the duct, an anvil upon which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, apparatus actuated by the breaking of an egg on said mandrel,- and mechanism controlled by said apparatus for disconnecting said suction means from the duct when an egg is broken on said anvil. 1

16. Salvaging apparatus for extracting a remnant liquid egg material from egg shell halves, comprising an anvil upon which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals. means actuated by the breaking of an egg on said anvil, a mandrel conforming in shape with the interior of a shell half and adapted to be positioned therein, suction means creating a sub atmospheric presure between the mandrel and the interior of the shell half, and apparatus controlled by said first means upon the breaking of another egg on said mandrel for automatically disabling said suction means thereby to release the shell half from the mandrel.

17. In salvaging apparatus wherein shell halves are placed on a suction mandrel to remove remnant liquid egg material therefrom, and wherein the mandrel occupies a predetermined position when the shell halves are placed thereon, the improvement which comprises an anvil upon which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, apparatus actuated by the breaking of an egg on said anvil, mechanism controlled by said apparatus for temporarily shifting the mandrel to a discharge position responsive to the breaking of an egg on said anvil and then restoring it to said predetermined position, and means automatically controlled in accordance with the position of said mandrel for forcibly ejecting a shell half from the mandrel during the time it is in said discharge position.

18. Salvaging apparatus for extracting remnant liquid egg material from shell halves, comprising a stationary support, a mandrel movably mounted on said support, means normally maintaining said mandrel in a predetermined position on the support, said mandrel conforming in shape with the interior of a shell half,

spacers on the mandrel for maintaining a space between the same and a shell half superposed over the mandrel, a duct extending through the mandrel and communicating at one end with the space between the mandrel and the shell half, suction means associated with the other end of 10 r the duct when said mandrel is in said predetermined position for drawing air through said space and into said duct, an anvil on which eggs are adapted to be broken manually at any desired intervals, apparatus actuated by the breaking of an egg on said mandrel, means controlled by said apparatus for moving said mandrel away from said predetermined position when an egg is broken on said anvil, and valve means automatically controlled in accordance with the position of said mandrel for shutting 0 1T said suction means responsive to said movement of the mandrel thereby to release from the mandrel the shell half superposed thereon.

JOHN M. VANSANT.

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